Forget Iliman Ndiaye and Carlos Baleba, the undoubted star of the Sunday lunchtime showdown between Everton and Brighton will be an £800m debutant with precisely zero Premier League experience.
All eyes will be on the Hill Dickinson Stadium as Everton play their first competitive match at their new 52,769-capacity home on Liverpool’s North Docks, and lovers of metaphor will be having a field day.
For a shiny new glass-and-stone edifice rising from the ashes of a half-derelict dock, read a sleeping giant of the English game revitalised by the second coming of a celebrated manager and a sprinkling of stardust in the form of Manchester City loanee Jack Grealish. Right?
Well, not quite; not if the evidence of Monday night’s underwhelming performance at Leeds United is anything to go by. Outplayed, outfought and out-thought, David Moyes’s side had the air of a team for whom the start of the new campaign had come around about a month too soon. The need for further signings, articulated long and loud by Moyes, was painfully apparent.
The absence of injured full-backs Vitalii Mykolenko and Nathan Patterson did not help, but the greater concerns lay in an uncharacteristic timidity and an absence of cutting edge so marked that Everton’s first shot did not arrive until the 53rd minute.
But Brighton should not be counting their chickens just yet. Held to a 1-1 draw at the Amex Stadium in their opener against Fulham, Fabian Hürzeler’s side looked equally off the early season pace, and paid the price for their inability to build on Matt O’Riley’s 55th-minute penalty when Rodrigo Muniz popped up with a stoppage-time equaliser.
Brighton are unbeaten in their last four visits to Everton, but a vulnerability to late goals was a recurring theme for the club last season. It is unthinkable that Moyes will allow a historic fixture for the Blues to be marred by the same lack of fight and composure evident against Leeds, and Everton will surely battle to the final whistle this time around. Given what’s at stake, a narrow win for the home side seems the most likely outcome.
Everton vs Brighton team news
It will be intriguing to see whether Moyes opts to start Grealish, whom Hürzeler identified in his pre-match news conference as an “unbelievable talent”. The Everton manager will speak at lunchtime on Friday, following which we will offer an update.
Brighton midfielder Jack Hinshelwood is expected to be available for selection after missing the Fulham game, while striker Tommy Watson could get his first minutes for the club following his summer switch from Sunderland.
Everton vs Brighton predicted lineups
Everton: Jordan Pickford; Jake O’Brien, James Tarkowski, Michael Keane, James Garner; Timothy Iroegbunam, Idrissa Gueye; Iliman-Cheikh Ndiaye, Carlos Alcaraz, Jack Grealish; Norberto Beto.
Brighton: Bart Verbruggen; Mats Wieffer, Jan Paul van Hecke, Lewis Dunk, Maxim De Cuyper; Carlos Baleba, Yasin Ayari; Yankuba Minteh, Matt O’Riley, Kaoru Mitoma; Georginio Rutter.
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